This week at Don’t Pick the Flowers I have quite a bit to share so I will jump right in. First, I would like to share that I am “Pick of the Month” at Webcomic Alliance. I appreciate them featuring and sharing my comic, and what a nice review. On the September 15th they will post 10 questions I have answered. Until then, I would love for you to read the very nice article here: www.webcomicalliance.com/site-news/potm-dont-pick-the-flowers/#more-8266

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Next, I have drawn fan art for Goober and Cindy comic by Daniel Barton. Daniel has decided to end his comic, which will be missed, and he asked his fellow cartoonist to add their take on Goober and Cindy and send them off with a bang. Here is my artwork and please check out Daniel’s website here: www.gooberandcindy.com/archives/2014/goodbye

Last but not least, here are some sketches I have posted and wanted to share from my sketch book. Top left: A charcoal sketch of Suzanne playing cards with a ghost. Top right: In honor of Tim Burton’s Birthday, here is my fun take on Tim. Bottom left: A charcoal sketch of Suzanne crying and Duck sympathizing. Bottom right: A fun but strange charcoal sketch of Robert Smith with the words from the “Not in Love” song from Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith of The Cure.

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That’s all for now, a lot to cover since the last blog post. Until next time, please check out all the links and “Don’t Pick the Flowers”! Dave

Today’s blog at Don’t Pick the Flowers I want to talk about my character Claudia and her slight change of appearance. Claudia is very dear to my heart; she is Suzanne’s best friend and a part of Don’t Pick the Flowers comic I don’t want to lose. So to set the story up I want to give a little history of why there is a slight change in Claudia’s appearance. Back in June (the 18th 2014 to be precise) I posted the comic “The stars shine bright”. I received a tweet that said Claudia looked like Pepper Ann (A cartoon that aired on ABC in 1997 and ended in 2000). The exact words were “Isn’t that Pepper Ann?” (I will keep the identity of the person who sent it private). Honestly, I had never heard of Pepper Ann, my apologies to the creator of the show, so I Googled “Pepper Ann”. And I will admit, there are similarities (not of my intent of course), like orange hair, glasses, and a purple shirt. I tweeted back to the person, “would have been too obvious on my part. Thank you for pointing that out to me”. I did ask a cartoonist friend of mine what she thought, but I never received a reply. That’s okay I knew she was busy. So I put it behind me, because I never intended my character to look like Pepper Ann. Fast forward to August, a friend dropped by my house and saw me drawing Claudia. She said, “It’s Pepper Ann”. I was a little irritated that she said that, but she had no idea about the tweets. There were now two people that had mentioned Claudia looking like Pepper Ann. I decided to address the issue through my comics instead of ignoring or fighting the resemblance. I don’t want Claudia to be known as a Pepper Ann clone or that I even slightly got the idea from someone else. With that, I have decided to adjust Claudia’s appearance, without someone saying, “Who is this or what have you done?” I have added 2 examples of Claudia and how she has changed.

The first picture (on the left) has Claudia with two pigtails. The next picture (on the right) she has a ponytail.

The reason I changed to a ponytail was honestly it was easier to draw. I can see NOW why there might be a comparison, that and the purple shirt. At this point in drawing Claudia, I’ve decided not to use a ponytail or pigtail, and have added a little shawl to cover the purple shirt slightly. I’m not planning to change her appearance again, so I hope this will identify Claudia as Claudia and no other character, this is a choice I want to make. I don’t want my character to be identified as Pepper Ann. Plus, I have known other cartoonists who have had their work (basically) stolen. I know that would suck, and as all creators I have drawn something and thought someone stole my idea. It doesn’t mean they did, but the internet is a big place. There never was any intention on my part to copy anyone else, but I do want to distinguish my characters as different from anyone else’s. I am gladly making this adjustment, especially if it is something as beloved as a cartoon character. That is all for now, so I want to clarify why Claudia is going through a slight change of appearance and hope the adjustment doesn’t confuse anyone. And here are the the 3 comics showing Claudia’s dilemma. Until next time, take care and Don’t Pick the Flowers!

This week at Don’t Pick the Flowers blog, I have a few new pieces of artwork to share. The first is guest art for PJ Day, creator of the comic Flatt Bear. He is on vacation and asked a few of his cartooning friends (yes, including me) to cover in his absence. Here is my take, with Suzanne and Claudia giving Duffy the bear a makeover. I’m glad PJ asked me be a guest on his website, he has a great comic and I’m glad he got a chuckle out of my comic. You can read PJ’s comic Flatt Bear here: www.flattbear.com/comic/makeover-david-hurley/#comments

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Next on the list, I have finished a commission I had mentioned in an earlier blog. This is my cartoonish take on Robert Smith of The Cure from “Why Can’t I be you” video. I will have prints available if you would like to order one. I am planning to open an Etsy shop to make it easy to purchase one. If you would like an 11 x 14 inch print now please contact me at dontpicktheflowers@gmail.com and I will give you all the details.

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Last, but not least, here is a sketch I drew of Peter Murphy on his birthday (Born July 11, 1957). Peter is the legendary lead singer of Bauhaus, Dali’s Car, and (now) Solo artist.Peter is considered the Godfather of Goth music.

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That’s all for this week, I hope you enjoy the art, until next time. Keep toning, David

I have a short but sweet new blog post today with fan art I drew for Michael Pohrer of Fiddlestix comic and wanted to share this with you. You can click on the links below to avail yourself to Michael’s comics (yes he has more than one) if you aren’t already familiar with his work. Enjoy his comics (click on the links folks) and the fan art I sent his way.

Hello everyone, wow it has been a while since I last posted a blog, (once again). It looks like I have quite a few drawing to share from the sketchbook and a Mother’s Day special comic (that shows you how long it’s been since the last blog). If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr you may have seen some of these, if not, here are new drawings for you to look at. The Mother’s Day comic was posted on every social network and GoComics. I do have a few surprises coming up which I will post soon. I have created some guest comics for fellow cartoonists; I love all of these cartoonists and their comics. A commission artwork I am close to finishing and eager to share. And possibly one more surprise if all works out. Until then, I hope you enjoy the sketches! Dave

This is the one panel comic I drew for Mother’s Day 2014. I wanted to tie in my three main characters without showing Suzanne and Vincent’s mom. This was posted at GoComics and via Social Media sites but not on Don’t Pick the Flowers website.

Up above, and from the sketchbook: Top left, in celebration of Vincent Price’s birthday I sketched this drawing. I’m a huge Vincent Price fan and was pretty happy with the outcome. Next, with the same purpose in mind, I sketched Siouxie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees on her birthday. Bottom right is a sketch of Brian Eno. I drew this on his birthday. I love Brian Eno, he is a genius! Last, on the bottom left is Rik Mayall, and I drew this on the day of his passing in tribute to him.

Above, more sketches,: Top left, A carticature sketch of Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, another birthday drawing. Top right, in memory of Ian Curtis of the legendary band Joy Division, a tribute sketch. Bottom Right, my little version of Wednesday of the Addams Family. Bottom Left, a sketch of Danny Elfman on his birthday, of the band Oingo Boingo and composer.

An extra sketch of Vincent, Suzanne and Duck as babies.

And last but not least, I sketched myself as a “Corpsed Bride”. Yes, idea came from the movie Corpse Bride by Tim Burton. I hope you’ve enjoyed the sketches, until next time, Dave